Conspiracy Girl is an interesting short story. It’s geared towards a younger audience and it’s definitely more novel than graphic novel, but I enjoyed it. It’s weird and I dig weird. The story follows Nina Complot from her birth which causes quite the controversy as Nina was supposed to be a boy. After an eruption at the hospital we finally meet Nina’s parents and it’s evident that Nina’s father is going to be a catalyst for the story, but is also the smartest man in the room full of idiots which is something he passes on to Nina.
The story is a little Lemony Snicket’s in which it has real world events that usually aren’t included in a kid’s book. The overall story fell a bit flat for me. I kept looking at the page count and wondering how there would be a satisfying resolution and sadly there really wasn’t. It was kind of clever, but I think even kids might be a little disappointed by this one. It does seem like the story could continue though so maybe on the next one.
Other than the ending the writing was really good. I enjoyed the descriptions and the overall craziness of the world that Nina lives in. I mean a hospital riot because a baby turned out to be a girl? It’s just funny. There writing was very good and really mixed adult dialogue with a younger crowd which is something I like because it’s not talking down to the audience. The pacing though needed more attention.
I enjoyed the art a lot and wish that it could have done more. As it is, it’s just one page/one scene per a two page spread. The only color used is green and shades of it, but it’s all the same ooze looking green. The art was very detailed and photorealistic which only made the crazy events all the crazier. It doesn’t add a lot, but it doesn’t detract either.
I would say give it a shot if you have an age appropriate child. I’m not going to pretend to know what age it’s good for, but I would imagine they’d need to be able to read on their own or have a solid attention span for you to read it to them. Nina could just become a fan favorite and the next Emily the Strange.
Score: 3/5
Conspiracy Girl Writer: Karen Chacek Artist: Abraham Balcazar Publisher: Cinco Puntos Press Price: $14.95 Release Date: 7/14/15 Format: Trade Paperback; Print